Windscreen device for motorcycle

ABSTRACT

A windscreen attaching/detaching device includes a mount bracket including a stopper and a hook, with the mount bracket secured to a windscreen and a mount stay including a damper member and a lock mechanism, with the mount stay secured to a vehicle body. The lock mechanism urges the hook to a locked position. The lock mechanism includes an arm disengaging with the hook and a lever linking to the arm and turnable between the locked position and an unlocked position. The windscreen engages the damper member with the stopper as well as engages the arm with the hook to turn the lever to the locked position that allows the windscreen to be secured to the vehicle body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to a windscreen device for a motorcyclewith the windscreen removably attached to a vehicle body so as to coverthe front of a rider.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] Some motorcycles include a windscreen disposed in front of arider to block headwinds. A conventional windscreen, attached to thevehicle body, is generally secured to steering handlebars throughbrackets with bolts or secured to a headlight through brackets withbolts.

[0005] A demand has been made for motorcycles provided with a removablewindscreen such that a rider can attach or detach the windscreendepending on highway driving or local street driving, or on the rider'spreference. However, attaching and detaching the windscreen was notsufficiently taken into consideration in the conventional windscreendevice. Attaching and detaching the windscreen involves the cumbersometask of securing or loosening bolts by means of tools in order to attachor detach the windscreen.

[0006] An advantage of the present invention made in view of thesituations with the prior art described above is to provide a windscreendevice for a motorcycle in which the windscreen can be easily attachedor detached without tools.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present invention, awindscreen device for a motorcycle having a windscreen removablyattached to a vehicle body so as to cover the front of a rider, includesa damper member provided on one of the vehicle body and the windscreen,a stopper engageable with the damper member provided on the other one, ahook attached to one of the vehicle body and the windscreen, a lockmechanism for urging the hook to a locked position provided on the otherone, and an arm disengageably engaged with the hook, and a lever linkingto the arm and turnable between a locked position and an unlockedposition. The windscreen engages the damper member with the stopper aswell as engages the arm with the hook to turn the lever to the lockedposition allowing the windscreen to be secured to the vehicle body.

[0008] According to the present invention, the arm is urged toward thelocked position by a spring.

[0009] According to the present invention, the lever is provided with akey cylinder for securing the lever to the locked position.

[0010] Further according to the present invention, a key into the keycylinder also serves as a main key for a main switch disposed on thevehicle body.

[0011] In the windscreen device of the present invention, the windscreenis attached to the vehicle body by engaging the stopper with the dampermember, and engaging the arm with the hook to turn the lever to thelocked position. This allows the damper member and the stopper to besecurely engaged with each other using a tensile force produced by thelock mechanism so that the windscreen is secured to the vehicle body.The windscreen is removed by turning the lever from the locked positionto the unlocked position to release the arm from the hook.

[0012] According to the present invention, the windscreen can beattached to or detached from the vehicle body through simple workwithout tools, that is, turning the lever between the locked positionand the unlocked position.

[0013] Also, according to the present invention, the arm urged towardthe locked position by the spring allows the windscreen to be furthertightly secured to the vehicle body. This can prevent a windscreenrattle and vibration while driving.

[0014] Further, the key cylinder is disposed for securing the lever tothe locked position. This can prevent the windscreen from being tamperedand stolen.

[0015] Also, the key to the key cylinder also serves as a main key forthe main switch. There is thus no need for an extra key.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016]FIG. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle provided with a windscreendevice according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017]FIG. 2 is a side view of the windscreen device.

[0018]FIG. 3 is a front view of the windscreen device.

[0019]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the windscreen device.

[0020]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the windscreen device.

[0021]FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a boss member of the windscreendevice.

[0022]FIG. 7 are views showing a hook and a lock mechanism of thewindscreen device.

[0023]FIG. 8 are views showing the hook and the lock mechanism.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0024] The embodiments of the present invention will be hereinafterdescribed in reference to the appended drawings.

[0025]FIGS. 1 through 8 are explanatory drawings of a windscreen devicefor a motorcycle according to an embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle provided with the windscreendevice. FIGS. 2 and 3 are a side view and a front view of the windscreendevice, respectively. FIGS. 4 and 5 are perspective views of thewindscreen device. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a rubber damper of thewindscreen device. FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b) are plan views of a hook and alock mechanism, respectively. FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) are side views of thehook and the lock mechanism, respectively.

[0026] In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes the motorcycle. Thismotorcycle is constituted, in rough description, with a water-cooled4-cycle V4-cylinder engine 3 mounted on a double-cradle body frame 2,and a fuel tank 4 as well as a seat 5 disposed on the upper portion ofthe body frame 2.

[0027] At the lower rear end of the body frame 2, a pair of left andright rear arms 7 are pivotably supported with a pivot shaft 6 forupward and downward swing. A rear wheel 8 is supported between the rearends of the rear arms 7.

[0028] A drive shaft (not shown) for transmitting the engine power tothe rear wheel 8 is fitted in the rear arms 7. A rear suspension 9 issuspended between the rear arms 7 and the body frame 2.

[0029] A rear fender 10 is provided above the rear wheel 8. A rear seat11 is provided above the rear fender 10. The body frame 2 has footrestboards 12 which allow the rider to rest his/her feet at its left andright lower ends below the fuel tank 4.

[0030] A head pipe 15 is connected to the front end of the body frame 2.The head pipe 15 is provided with a steering shaft 16 rotatable via abearing (not shown). The steering shaft 16 has an upper bracket 17 andan under bracket 18 tightly secured to its upper and lower ends,respectively. A pair of left and right front forks 20 are fixedlyconnected to both the brackets 17 and 18. A front wheel 21 is supportedbetween the bottom ends of the front forks 20.

[0031] To the upper bracket 17 is secured a pair of left and righthandle crowns 22 via interposed rubber bushes (not shown). Steeringhandlebars 23 are fixed to each handle crown 22 with bolts. The left andright front forks 20 have a headlight 24 attached to their upper endswhile having a front fender 25, for covering the upper portion of thefront wheel 21, attached to their lower ends.

[0032] Approximately the upper half of each front fork 20 is coveredwith a cylindrical fork cover 26. The fork cover 26 is fixed to theupper and under brackets 17 and 18. A main switch 27 is providedrearward of the upper bracket 17. The main switch 27 has a key cylinder27 a through which a main key 28 is inserted.

[0033] At the front end of the body frame 2, a windscreen device 50 isdisposed for blocking headwinds. The windscreen device 50 has awindscreen 30 and an attachment/detachment mechanism 51 for attaching ordetaching the windscreen 30 to or from the vehicle body.

[0034] The windscreen 30 made of polycarbonate is large enough to coverthe front of the rider seated on the seat 5. The windscreen 30 is formedwith opposite sides edges curved toward the rear of the vehicle. At thelower edge of the windscreen 30, a recess 30 a is formed to avoidinterfering with the headlight 24.

[0035] In the attachment/detachment mechanism 51, a lock mechanism 40locks or unlocks a mount bracket 52 secured to the windscreen 30, and amount stay 33 secured to the vehicle body.

[0036] In the mount bracket 52, a band-shaped horizontal plate 31extending in the lateral direction of the vehicle is secured to thebottom of the windscreen 30, and left and right vertical plates 32, 32extend downward along the outer side surface of each fork cover 26 fromthe left and right ends of the horizontal plate 31.

[0037] Each of the left and right vertical plates 32 has verticallyextending holes 32 b formed on its band-shaped support member 32 bvertically extending. The windshield 30 is secured to the verticalplates 32, 32 with bolts 32 c inserted through the vertically extendingholes 32 b so that the vertical position of the windscreen 30 can beadjusted.

[0038] Each of the vertical plates 32 includes a base portion 32 dintegrally formed with the lower half of the support member 32 a, andextending rearward. The laterally inner side of the base portion 32 d isprovided with a stopper 38 formed into a semi-circular band. A hook 32 eis integrally formed with the lower edge of the base portion 32 d toextend downward. The hook 32 e is formed with its lower end curvedupward and toward the outer side of the vehicle into a J-shape.

[0039] The mount stay 33 is disposed behind the vertical plates 32 ofthe mount bracket 52. The mount stay 33 has a fixed portion 33 bintegrally formed with the upper edge of a band-shaped main stay 33 avertically extending, from which the fixed portion 33 b curves towardthe vehicle body. The fixed portion 33 b is tightly fixed to the frontwall of the upper bracket 17 with a bolt 34. The main stay 33 a has alower end 33 c interconnected by welding to a bar member 35, which issecured to the vehicle body.

[0040] A portion corresponding to the stopper 38 and formed on the upperpart of the main stay 33 a or near the mount bracket 52 is provided witha cylindrical damper member 37. As shown in FIG. 6, the damper member 37includes a metal boss 37 a and a hard rubber damper 37 b fixed to themetal boss 37 a, while being tightly screwed by a bolt 37 c to the mountstay 33.

[0041] The lock mechanism 40 is provided on the mount stay 33 and belowthe hook 32 e. The lock mechanism 40 includes an arm 41 disengageablyengaged with the hook 32 e and a lever 43 to which ends 41 a, 41 a ofthe arm 41 are swingably connected via a connecting pin 42. The lever 43has a front end supported for turning between the locked position andthe unlocked position with a turning pin 45 inserted through a base 44which is secured to the mount stay 33 with bolts.

[0042] The arm 41 made of a bar material is curved into an approximatelyU-shape. The connecting pin 42 journaling the arm 41 can be moved by (t)relative to the lever 43 in the longitudinal direction (See FIG. 8(b)).A spring 46 interposed between the pins 42 and 45 urges the connectingpin 42 as well as the arm 41 toward the locked position.

[0043] A key cylinder 47 having a key insertion part 47 a is disposed onthe lever 43. Inserting the main key 28 for the main switch 27 into thekey insertion part 47 a for locking up allows the lever 43 to be fixedto the locked position. This can prevent the lever 43 from turning.

[0044] The windscreen 30 to be attached to the vehicle body ispositioned from above such that each of the left and right stoppers 38is engaged with the damper member 37, to turn the lever 43 to theunlocked position whereby the hook 32 e is engaged with the arm 41 toturn the lever 43 to the locked position (See FIG. 2).

[0045] This allows the damper member 37 and the stopper 38 to besecurely engaged with each other using a tensile force produced by thelock mechanism 40 so that the windscreen 30 is secured to the frontforks 20. The windscreen 30 is removed by turning the lever 43 from thelocked position to the unlocked position to release the arm 41 from thehook 32 e, so that the windscreen 30 is removed from above.

[0046] According to the embodiment of the present invention as describedabove, the damper member 37 is attached to the mount stay 33 fixedlysupported with the front fork 20. Also, each vertical plate 32 of themount bracket 52 which is secured to the windscreen 30 is provided withthe stopper 38, and the lock mechanism 40 is provided to allow the arm41 to be engaged with the hook 32 e of the vertical plate 32 so as topull them downward. The windscreen 30 can be thus attached to ordetached from the vehicle body with ease and without tools, that is,turning the lever 43 between the locked position and the unlockedposition.

[0047] The damper member 37 including the rubber damper 37 b, and thearm 41 urged toward the locked position by the spring 46 can prevent thewindscreen 30 from rattling and vibrating while driving.

[0048] According to the embodiment of the present invention, the lever43 has the key cylinder 47 disposed for securing the lever 43 to thelocked position. This can prevent the windscreen from being tamperedwith and stolen. The key 28 into the key cylinder 47 also serves as amain key 28 for the main switch 27. There is thus no need for an extrakey.

What is claimed is:
 1. A windscreen attaching/detaching device,comprising: a mount bracket including a stopper and a hook, with themount bracket secured to a windscreen; and a mount stay including adamper member and a lock mechanism, with the mount stay secured to avehicle body, wherein the lock mechanism urges the hook to a lockedposition, with the lock mechanism including an arm disengaging with thehook and a lever linking to the arm and turnable between the lockedposition and an unlocked position, and wherein the windscreen engagesthe damper member with the stopper as well as engages the arm with thehook to turn the lever to the locked position that allows the windscreento be secured to the vehicle body.
 2. The windscreen attaching/detachingdevice according to claim 1, wherein the arm is urged towards the lockedposition by a spring.
 3. The windscreen attaching/detaching deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein the lever is provided with a key cylinderfor securing the lever to the locked position.
 4. The windscreenattaching/detaching device according to claim 3, wherein a key into thekey cylinder also serves as a main key for a main switch disposed on thevehicle body.
 5. The windscreen attaching/detaching device according toclaim 2, wherein the mount bracket includes a band-shaped plate securedto a bottom portion of the windscreen.
 6. The windscreenattaching/detaching device according to claim 2, wherein the mountbracket includes side vertical plates including vertically extendingholes wherein the windscreen is secured to the vertical plates withbolts to adjust the windscreen.
 7. The windscreen attaching/detachingdevice according to claim 6, wherein the vertical plates include a baseportion provided with the stopper.
 8. The windscreen attaching/detachingdevice according to claim 7, wherein the hook is integrally formed witha lower edge of the base portion.
 9. The windscreen attaching/detachingdevice according to claim 6, wherein the mount stay is disposed behindthe vertical plates.
 10. The windscreen attaching/detaching deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein the lock mechanism is provided below thehook.
 11. The windscreen attaching/detaching device according to claim2, wherein the windscreen is made of a polycarbonate.
 12. The windscreenattaching/detaching device according to claim 2, further comprising arecess formed on a lower edge of the windscreen.
 13. The windscreenattaching/detaching device according to claim 2, wherein the lockmechanism locks and unlocks the mount bracket.
 14. The windscreenattaching/detaching device according to claim 2, wherein the stopper isformed into a semi-circular band.
 15. A windscreen attaching/detachingdevice, comprising: a mount bracket including a stopper and a hook, withthe mount bracket secured to a windscreen; a mount stay including adamper member and a lock mechanism, with the mount stay secured to avehicle body; and wherein the lock mechanism urges the hook to a lockedposition, with the lock mechanism including an arm disengaging with thehook and a lever linking to the arm and turnable between the lockedposition and an unlocked position, and wherein the windscreen engagesthe damper member with the stopper as well as engages the arm with thehook to turn the lever to the locked position that allows the windscreento be secured to the vehicle body; and means for securing the lever tothe locked position.
 16. A method for attaching/detaching a windscreento a vehicle body comprising: placing a windscreen on a vehicle body;engaging a stopper with a damper member; and engaging an arm with a hookto turn a lever to a locked position, wherein the damper member and thestopper are securely engaged with each other using a tensile forceproduced by the arm and the lever.
 17. The method according to claim 16,further comprising turning the lever from the locked position to anunlocked position to release the arm from the hook.
 18. The methodaccording to claim 16, further comprising urging the arm towards thelocked position by a spring.
 19. The method according to claim 16,further comprising providing the lever with a key cylinder for securingthe lever to the locked position.
 20. The method according to claim 16,further comprising providing a recess formed on a lower edge of thewindscreen.